Visual Review

Karaoke.

Opening. They ignored the Germanic parts, which was disappointing, but I liked what they were going for with the karaoke style. Unfortunately, it only made sense half the time, since the orange highlights were not replicated in gg’s karaoke when they appeared in the Japanese credits (compare screenshot 3, with the orange highlights, to screenshot 2).

They could have had something minimalistically impressive here with just a bit more effort put into it, but as it stands, it’s simply minimally engaging.

Rating: Okay-.

Ending. I did enjoy the color shift halfway through — that was the right decision to make. However, gg has the placement skills of someone who finishes puzzles by eating them. Karaoke isn’t as hard as you guys are trying to make it seem.

Rating: Okay-.

Typesetting.

To some degree, it’s admirable when groups are so blatant about not giving a shit about their typesetting. What confidence, right?

Then you put down the bottle and realize it’s not actually confidence so much as it is incompetence. Apathy shouldn’t be admired any more than stupidity is.

Script Review

Main Script.

Similar to my complaint in EveTaku’s review, this is problematic since there’s more than one wall. It’s not clear what this refers to from just this preview.

While it’s understandable what’s going on from the context of previous episodes, it’s also possible to understand what’s going on without subtitles, so don’t hide behind that argument. This line needs specificity.

When desperately reaching out to your friend, hoping he’ll grab your hand and be saved from certain death, “Come!” is not exactly the appropriate verbiage.

Try “Take my hand!” or “Here!” instead.

“Come!” is what you exasperatedly say to your lover when you’re getting bored and would much rather play PS2 (still the only gaming system worth owning).

Is it really that hard to keep these kinds of things straight? Doesn’t inspire much confidence in the subs.

This has nothing to do with the score and is just me jabbering.

If you aren’t going to beat around the bush, might as well shave that shit in one go. “At the very least, I refuse to die on their terms.” is the sentiment he’s going for, so why not sub it as such?

I understand the idea of committing to bringing over Japan’s shitty writing in all its roundabout glory, but if you have the sense to translate something as if it’s going to be read by a human, English-speaking audience, there’s no reason to not adapt it appropriately.

Error of emphasis. These things don’t affect the score to a large degree, but they’re legitimate issues, so they do factor in.

But if it does work…

This doesn’t make much sense. It would be fine if the line was “I only made it out alive because of you.” but that isn’t what this line is saying.

He got out of a situation, sure, but when you’re reading a line like the one above, that connection doesn’t make sense. This reads as “got out” in the sense of “escaped from a confining physical area”.

The hell is Jean’s response supposed to refer to? Freckles’s first line or his second? I suppose it doesn’t matter though, since his response doesn’t fit either.

A Titan. But he’s really asking “What… just happened?”

We’ll.

are

“Never mind” is a really fucking weird way to respond to that apology. “Don’t worry about it.” or “No problem.” is more along the lines with what people would actually say.

Results

Watchability: Watchable.

Visual grade: C

Script grade: B-

Overall grade: B-

Oh, gg. I wish your quality matched your speed. But as it stands, EveTaku’s release seems like the way to go for Shingeki.

Your comment on “Let me go” isn’t quite right. The actual phrase “let me go” is perfectly valid in that situation (and probably said more often that “let go of me”) but it’s an impassioned, curt response. The real issue with that line is that it’s mixed with “please” which would only really be a valid choice if he was caged up somewhere and sobbing his heart out. Which he’s not. Hence why it sounds like he wants to go to Disneyland.

Another bone of contention is the “eaten alive” bit – I figured the emphasis wasn’t on his method of dying but actually that *being eaten* was inevitable, so he’d rather be dead than alive when that happened. Dying “on his own terms” loses that dark emphasis (plus I don’t really see an issue with it as a line anyway).

First, thanks for the review, Sage-kun. I’d say C+/B- was the score I expected our release to get, considering our TS and karaoke limitations, but of course, I have a few opinions to add in regards to the editing.

You said Evetaku’s “It’s our chance now that some of them are distracted.” was better than gg’s “The Titans are relatively concentrated around there.” because the former ‘relates what’s going on and segues into their next move’. However, you didn’t mention that we split that line, so the line you should be contrasting is actually: “The Titans are relatively concentrated around there. This is our chance!” which avoids the awkward phrasing of the Evetaku combined line, and conveys the same message: The Titans are all converging over here, so now is the moment for us to make a break for HQ. I’m not saying ‘around there’ is award winning scriptwriting, but you can’t only show half a line and then say it doesn’t convey the same point as the full line from another group.

FalseDawn already covered a couple of my minor caveats, but:
“Let me go” is not wrong, and it can absolutely mean essentially the same thing as “Let go of me”. This is common speech, so I’m not sure why it sounds off to you, but I chose it over “Let go of me” because “Let me go” has connotations beyond a request to let go physically of his sleeve. As you said, let me go =/= let go of me, and that’s why I chose it.

By saying “Let me go,” he’s also saying: Go your own way and leave me be, I’m done for so let me go (in peace). “Let me go” has emotional overtones not conveyed by “Let go of me” and since this scene is the resolution where Armin overcomes his survivor’s guilt complex spanning 2 episodes prior (including his breakdown where he claimed he should have been the one to die, and his repeated demands that his comrades leave him behind for dead), I felt it was important to try to preserve that characterization into this episode.

Finally, minor point, the line about ‘standing idly by and waiting to be eaten’, I don’t see much of a problem with it, and I wouldn’t rewrite it so liberally as you would. It’s not about preserving the ‘shitty Japanese writing’ it’s just about what the character is actually SAYING, not what I’d like to infer he’s thinking based on my knowledge of tropes.

Once again, thanks for the review. And see you tomorrow for SnK 11, [gg] viewers!

You claim he’s asking “What just happened?” but he is not. He’s seeing an abnormal Titan that is clearly unlike any other Titan he’s seen before, and he’s apprehending the situation. So not only does his question refer to the thing he’s staring at when he asks it, furthermore, “What… is that?” is a rhetorical answer from the narrative to the mental conundrum Jean was just pondering (“how can we possibly measure up to these gigantic monstrosities?”). When he asks “What is that?” he doesn’t quite yet know that “that” is the very answer to his previous, deeper question, but the audience gets the message. From the way this scene was choreographed, as well as the timing of his existential crisis monologue immediately prior, it’s a safe assumption this was all aligned intentionally for an effect. Breaking it up by rewriting that line to “What happened?” would be heinous, so I tried to preserve the effect intended by the ‘shitty Japanese writing’. XD

I’m curious as to how “It’s our chance now that some of them are distracted.” is considered awkward phrasing. Additionally, I think your line of “The Titans are relatively concentrated around there. This is our chance!” is slightly vague in the sense that it doesn’t really explain how the concentration of the Titans provides them with a chance. Yes, I do realize this is implied, though I still feel it should’ve been more clear.

I’m not being critical, I actually thought Evetaku had a great release. What I meant there was that I don’t think the way combining the two lines into one was handled resulted in a smooth-flowing sentence. “Now that some of them are distracted, this is our chance!” might be a less awkward sounding construction and certainly better than either of the existing lines. I already admitted my line was less than brilliant, I just wanted it to be compared fairly. Cheers!

Having checked eps 1-8 from almost all groups, I’d easily pick gg over Evetaku.
Yes, they have some consistency issues, but at least their scripts don’t bore me to death. They have a better feel of the characters/situation and smart comeback lines, whereas Evetaku’s scripts feel like I’m reading an essay or something.
As for derpy lines and whatnot, all groups have a few in different places, so this isn’t really the decisive factor here. Having said all that, go with Taka :P